Former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn contestant is ready to franchise his family’s fast-casual burger concept, Good Stuff Eatery.

The franchise opened in July 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Since then, two additional company locations have opened, one each in Arlington, Virginia’s downtown Crystal City and in D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood.

DC was key to the plan. “You sell people on the brand and the feel and the food. They spend four to six months here, and they go back to their respective cities,” he says. “It’s great because they take the experience that they had in D.C. with them—so it literally gave us national recognition.”

Good Stuff Eatery

That experience revolves around a fast-casual concept that capitalizes on locally sourced ingredients. Each Good Stuff Eatery serves up the brand’s signature Farmhouse Burger, available in Farmhouse Cheese and Farmhouse Bacon Cheese variations. Ten original creations are also on the menu, including the Prez Obama Burger, made with Applewood-smoked bacon, onion marmalade, Roquefort cheese, and horseradish mayo.

Good Stuff balances its farm-raised beef burger selection with hand-cut fries, four wedge salads, and hand-spun milkshakes. The high-quality food, Mendelsohn says, will be one of the biggest draws for franchisees.

“Everything about the menu and the concept invokes family and comfort and locality,” he says. “If we maintain that, I think it’ll be a home run.”.

Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn Hits Home Run

Negotiations are underway for a location in Chicago, and TOp Chef Spike Mendelsohn says that may be the brand’s first franchise. He says the ideal franchisee needs more than money in the bank, though.

Mendelsohn, a Culinary Institute of America alumnus, adds that every Good Stuff Eatery location will employ at least one culinary school graduate, either in a traditional or managerial role.

As for how many franchise locations Mendelsohn has in mind, he says there’s no set number yet.

“Who knows? You’ve just got to take it day by day,” he says. “I can’t predict the future, but we want to be a huge brand to be reckoned with.” Visit http://www.goodstuffeatery.com/ for more info.